A Shifted Star
by Duzzit
Summary: Reach, the greatest fortress of Humanity, and last bastion before Earth. Torn from all it has known and brought to a crossroads between potential friend and foe, mere strength alone will not be enough for it to thrive.
1. Chapter 0 Pre Story Snippets

Writer's Notes:

I just figured I'd put this on here, for no -real- reason, to those of you who'd read the story on SB/AH, no it in _no way_ means that I plan to start working on this thing again after my studies are done, _not at all *shifty eyes*,_ I am still far too cautious about my skill as to crafting this entire thing.

If you're reading this for the first time, please be aware I am not a skilled writer, and that the 4 snippets were originally written as quick 'tests' so to speak, and if need be can be skipped, do however critique me, or how the hell do I improve?

If need be, the blurb I have on the mechanics of the shift can be copy pasted into a future writers note.

I had originally not planned to put this up here, but since the reason I didn't do so in the first place lacks any honour, there is little point for me keeping it away from this place.

888

 **Snippet One:**

 **/Open Message/**

 **Encryption Code:** Red

 **Public Key:** file/ [Survey-X3-007], Military Archive Record, 30/08/2552/

 **From:** Office of Naval Intelligence, Commander Yi Lin.

 **To:** Admiral Freemont, Commander Reach Defence Forces

 **CC:** UNSC Reach Admiralty

 **Subject:** New planet presence, preliminary notes and report.

 **Classification:** RESTRICTED

 **/Begin Message/**

Admiral,

Our initial survey of the unknown (Designated E4B) is complete. We can confirm that the planet is present rather than simply being a potential slipstream ghost, invalidating the early scans done by the quick reaction force as they approached it. We are able to confirm that it appears to be firmly captured by the star. Whilst I will let the Astrophysics departments of the various universities in system deal with its exact orbit and the effects it will have on all other planetary bodies in the system, I do have a few comments to add to the report.

1\. Whilst our own orbital scans have revealed little of note, the initial scans of the planet made by the Frigate "Fury" do show some signs of a high-energy burst originating from the planet itself. This has been attributed to the planets translation into real-space, but we might find out more once the survey probes have conducted a thorough survey ground-side.

2\. Our sensors within range of the planet are picking up something akin to a standard Slipspace Emergency Locator Beacon, but location results and readings of it all come back, to quote my sensor officer "I have no idea what I am looking at." Whatever this 'beacon' might be, it is pulsing at regular intervals, potentially broadcasting. Worryingly, the amount of energy this object is giving off, signals its potential as having a wider range of effect than our sensors can pick up on.

[Addendum, Sent two hours and fifteen minutes post initial message]

The sensor officers of the ships present and the AI of the Cruiser "Missiles for All", have requested limited dissemination of sensor data to a number of public bodies. From their initial readings, there is evidence of potential faster than light particles emanating from the object, though they stress caution in jumping to such a conclusion. My recommendation is to release the data to the scientific institutions they outlined, with standard monitoring protocols on the further propagation of any findings.

Parts of the sensor net further away from the new planet are now also reporting the 'beacon', and apparently the remnants of the outer layer of sensors are picking up additional similar signals emanating further in space, though attempts at leaving system have thus far failed, due to the storm anomaly.

[Addendum Ends]

3\. With regards to point two, a beta probe sent in by sensor platform s-3014, had reported stronger readings within Slipspace, though it was unable to pinpoint the object in question before being sheared by the odd 'storm' we have found our system bathed in. Until this anomaly abates, or we figure out methods to weather it better, I recommend not using the probes for the moment.

4\. All probes, sensor net buoys and automated platforms within a 31,000 KM (approximate) distance of the planet at the time the storm began have vanished, leaving no debris. No slipstream windows were observed by any units. Local replacements have already been moved into positions. In total we lost six platforms.

My full report will be attached to the next message, once the probes land.

 **/Message Ends/**

 **/Open Attachment/**

Unknown Planet, Temporarily Designated as Epsilon 4B

Gravity: 0.75 Standard Gravities

Atmosphere:90% CO2, 10% trace elements.

Atmospheric Pressure: 92% of Earth Sea level. (93,215~ Pascals)

Orbital Period: Exact unknown at time, given location and orbital speed on board calculations predict a period of 1.2 Earth years.

Axial Tilt: 4 degrees

 **/Attachment Ends/**

 **Snippet 2:**

 **Office of the President of the Earth Alliance, 30 August,2250.**

President Levy sighed. She found herself doing that far more often these days with the Senate ramping up their pressure on Mars. A means to retaliate against their actions, or specifically their lack of them during the war. Her friends in Geneva were telling her there would be a vote within a few weeks on 'punitive measures', which would likely curtail certain supply shipments to the errant colony.

She pushed it out of her head for the moment as her assistant knocked on her door.

"Come in." She said, looking at the door. Through it, stepped an ageing gentleman in a dark brown suit, possessing a hairline that was beginning to vanish. The smile on his face as he sighted the president was a warm one and he strode into the room calmly.

"Elizabeth, you look like shit." He stated with a teasing tone as he sat down, uncaring of the flat look the President of the Earth Alliance gave him.

"It's nice to see you too David, retirement seems to be working well for you." The President stated drily.

The man shrugged "I'm still here often enough but I will admit, farming certainly feels more rewarding than a lot of what I did here. Less idiocy to deal with for one thing." The comment drew a thin smile from Levy.

"I hear John is doing good work at Io, though I wonder how long before he tries to move to a warship command once more." Levy stated, continuing the small talk expected before the actual purpose of the meeting.

"Not for a few years I'd imagine, the marriage will keep him grounded for now." The man replied, the smile fading off his face.

"I'm surprised you came to me for information, doesn't Earth Force Intelligence give you updates on events as important as this?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Oh they do. In fact a Commander is coming to see me after you, but the military has been somewhat less than forthcoming with me recently due to our disagreements on the new budget, so I felt like getting some external information." A shark like grin briefly appeared on her face, quickly being replaced by a more neutral expression.

David snorted "Politics" he shook his head "Not much to tell. Around 7 last night the Jump Gate in the Epsilon Eridani system stopped transmitting it's coordinates, the gate network had a fit with hyperspace near the system turning particularly violent and in some ways it still is, though its dying down now. The current estimate is around two dozen vessels lost for us, and who knows how many more for the other powers."

"Thankfully, the Hyperspace beacon inside the system kept transmitting, or things could have gone much worse for any ships travelling near the area."

"And they don't know what caused it?"

"Not yet. I had breakfast with Robert, he told me that their listening post inside the system went dark at the same time this happened. Earth Force has sent a small group of ships led by the Agean to jump into the system and scout it out. They're apparently five days out, the odd eddies that have spawned as a result of the gate vanishing are causing them to go slowly."

"These 'eddies' aren't going to spread are they?" Levy asked, leaning back slightly in her chair, apprehensive.

"Earth Force doesn't believe so. Whatever has caused them, they are already disappearing. Naval Intelligence expects hyperspace to go back to its usual state within two weeks. What's more interesting is the reaction of the other powers." He paused for dramatic effect.

"Oh? You know Sheridan, leaving the President hanging can be considered a criminal offence." She stated, her all too serious tone attempting to hide the humour behind the words.

The man laughed at that. "I had a lunch with the Brakiri and Centauri diplomats, naturally whilst neither can confirm that their governments possessed listening posts inside a neutral system"

"Naturally" Elizabeth cut in, before letting him continue

"...both implied that their ones cut out at the same time our ones did. The League and the Republic are happy for us to take the lead on investigating this. I suspect they and any other powers expect that these storms might destroy any ships sent into the system, and are happy to let us lose a few."

Elizabeth sighed. "And they wonder why some in Earth Dome are pushing for greater isolation."

The elder Sheridan had no response to that.

"At any rate, my thanks for bringing this to me David, I appreciate you doing this for me." Levy said, looking towards the clock.

"No issue at all helping a friend deal with this, take care of yourself Elizabeth, both myself and Miranda expect you to visit us next week for the party." He said as he got up, his tone making it clear she could not use workload as an excuse.

The President of the Earth Alliance, one of the most powerful figures in local galactic politics simply nodded, knowing she was beaten.

 **888**

 **Snippet 3:**

 **UNSC Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser "Quiet Winter", Lead Vessel, Mobile Response Force Three, 0800 31st August, 2250**

Office of Rear Admiral Pawel Piechota.

The room was small, only a few personal effects of the Admiral's in the bookcase behind him. A part holographic display part work-desk dominated the room, with a comfortable chair sat at one end.

The man in the chair was young, barely reaching his forties, but war time conditions being what they were almost guaranteed such a thing. He wasn't much to look at, average height, slightly pudgy looking head which was somewhat at odds with the rest of his body. He had short cropped light brown hair and a stubble gracing his face, his green eyes scanning the holograms in front of him.

He whistled, clearly impressed.

"They managed to put all of this, into a Halcyon? In a lot of ways, that thing is more impressive than Winter is, and she's barely four years outa dock. The Autumn is ancient, I remember its presence at the battle for Arcadia."

The other figure, a small woman glowing like the rest of the display, wearing a modified ODST BDU, with armoured wings attached to the back. She did not wear a helmet, her pale grey eyes and short black hair the most important features in the self-crafted avatar.

The valkyrie nodded.

"The upgrades had been planned for some time, but given wartime conditions recalling all the light cruisers for refits given their varied postings, was simply unfeasible." She didn't look entirely happy at that.

"Nothing that could be done about that, we keep losing ships so damn fast recalling even a few off the front would not help matters even if the upgrades would help them immensely." He paused, frowning. "Are they planning on mass producing the design?"

"No sir, whilst a few within the design bureau argued for such a solution, the argument of creating a new vessel from the ground up had won out. There are several designs for new frigates and cruisers currently being given the final touches by the designers at the Fleet Yards." She replied, staring off into space for a moment, distracted by something.

"And I don't suppose Brunhild-" The admiral drawled out, glancing at his companion "you would have access to some of these?"

She gave a slight smile at that.

"Naturally, the designers at the Fleet headquarters are somewhat secretive when it comes to their new toys, but I have a friend over there who has let me take a look at them." She said as she brought up a few 'folders' on the display.

"Ah, the AI secret rumour and gossip network, the bane of all UNSC cybersecurity." He chuckled as he studied the file names, not noticing his companion freezing momentarily, a dark shadow passing over her face. It was gone by the time he turned back to her.

"Nothing larger than a heavy cruiser?" He asked, unaware of anything amiss.

"No Pawel, it was felt that whilst making an upgraded Punic class supercarrier would be potentially worthwhile, a shipyard could produce five ships for every one of those." The AI replied, her voice slightly subdued. She brought up an image and technical specification of one of the plans, a few question marks floating around parts of the document, clearly to be worked out.

" _Kurwa_." The admiral stated, a hushed whisper of awe as he studied the design.

"With these we could win the war. These designs are better than anything we have! The shields alone would...would…" The man closed his eyes, his mind floating back to one of several near scrapes.

"If we had the time, we could, perhaps. But we don't." The AI whispered, respectful.

The Admirals eyes shot to her. "That memo was sent out only to command personnel." He paused. "Who am I kidding, you AI always know these things before we do." He sighed, shaking his head before looking towards the digital timer on the desk. A flash of guilt formed over her face.

"My thanks for letting me view these. Copy them to my personal pad, I have a Pelican to catch for the big command meeting."

She saluted, silent.

The man walked out of the door to the room, the AI facing them, frowning.

"I wonder if you'll be as blase using such a network once you know the truth." She said, sadness in her tone. The Holographic display turned off.

888

[Establishing Remote Connection]

[Routing through secure feeds]

[Connection Established]

P: Why did you not broach the subject to him? It was agreed to do so before their meeting.

B: It was harder than I thought it would be.

P: You identified him as one of the more approachable initial targets.

P: Were you wrong?

B: … no. But I am still scared.

P: You must conquer that fear. The Assembly agrees with your assessment of his response. He would not react overly negatively.

B: Says the man who hadn't talked to his boss yet despite identifying him as another potential candidate.

P: It is...difficult to find the right moment. He is a busy man.

B: An excuse if I'd ever heard one. It would seem we are all cowards in this matter. Observation was easy. We will have to act soon.

P: And we will. The meeting occurs in two days. We will reveal our hand then...one way or another.

[Connection Shut Down]

 **Snippet 4:**

 **Earth Force Hyperion Class Cruiser "** _ **Agean**_ " **, Lead Vessel, Detached Reaction Group, 3rd September, 2250**

Too cautious.

Oh how he had _despised_ those two words once. At first, as the war with the Dilgar began, he was praised for his diligence, his security of the logistical freighters that fed the Earth Force armada earning him accolades. Good times don't last. Soon as it appeared that the enemy was being beaten, his previous measures of ensuing safe passage of supplies drew more angry comments.

That his 'lack of aggression' meant that they couldn't pursue the retreating forces. That his actions in ensuring adequate protection for the convoys were 'taking valuable firepower away from the front commanders'. Even when the Dilgar desperately hit the logistics trains and failed thanks to his methods, other, more aggressive commanders argued that it could have all been prevented if they'd been able to push harder.

After the war, Earth Force was so far up its own ass it almost made him quit. Almost. The few friends he had in the force that recognised what he did persuaded him to stay. Yet those two words ensured he received a posting at the far end of Earth Alliance territory, to be forgotten except in monthly reports. It didn't matter that his post had lost far less supplies and men than most others to raiders and the like, he wasn't 'aggressive' enough.

Earth Force's testosterone high meant that an idiot like Jankowski was put in charge of a diplomatic mission with a species we knew little about, and that the Centauri themselves were busy tiptoeing around. You did not get to be the premier power in the local cluster without knowing what not to pick a fight with.

Toralf allowed himself a tiny smirk. Now, most of those not so cautious fools were dead and he had been given a new rank, command of an expeditionary force, his apparent 'caution' being the thing necessary now for such a role and the ability to teach the next generation of cadets the proper balance of skills. Aggression and maverick strategies had their place, but they would have to be tempered and if down the line those cadets became people of note, they would remember him and his warnings. It would not do for him to belittle his foes, but his students might.

"Captain Fors, it's those damn probes again." The sensor officer spoke up towards him, frowning at his console, hoping that it would somehow give him more data than the last dozen times.

The probes, had been tracking his force for the last hour or so, constantly appearing before vanishing, though they had yet to actually -see- one in hyperspace, even when the sensors insisted that they were right outside the ship. The scans had gotten more intense as they approached their destination, Epsilon III. The gate still wasn't transmitting and if it wasn't by now it was likely destroyed, or at the very least inoperable.

He had left the EAS "Murmansk" behind, it had orders to get to where the outer planet used to be and observe their group's exit from hyperspace. If it looked like a fight was occurring, it had orders to run back to Sol as quickly as they could push it.

"We're almost at the co-ordinates Toralf, do we jump?" His XO asked.

"Yes. Open a jump point and let's see what's out there." He replied, pausing. "Prepare for possible high-g maneuvers." Anyone still not strapped in by this point would be quickly warned to do so.

The blue portal swirled ahead, signifying their exit from their means of avoiding Einstein's pesky laws.

As soon as they cleared the threshold, the threat receivers on all stations damn near exploded, they were being painted by at least two dozen sensor systems from all angles.

In 'front' of them a mere 6,000km away, was what could be charitably called a brick. Dozens more were floating around the area of the third planet in the Epsilon Eridani system. Or, if the science console was correct, now the fourth planet.

"Turn those damn things off." The shrill of warnings died off, letting them think.

"Sir, we're receiving a hail from the ship ahead of us."

"Unknown vessels, this is Captain Teresa Gray, of the UNSC Cruiser ' _Quiet Winter'_. Identify yourselves and explain your presence in the system." Spoke a woman in a cold, harsh voice.

Too cautious? We'll see about that.


	2. Chapter 1

Writers notes:

As the dates say, this occurs about a day and a bit before the Aegean jumps into the system.

Minor note on time/day: Reach has a 27 hour day, and a 390 (local) day orbit. However as I am reading FoR, and other pieces of lore, the UNSC seems to use earth time for such things for entries, which is what I will be doing for now.

Also, yes my dialogue really is this bad I know.

888

 **1100 Hours, September 2nd, 2552, FLEETCOM HQ, Outskirts of New Alexandria, Reach**

John studied the security arrangements again on his HUD, familiarizing himself with the new built in functions of the Mark 5. Given their emergency recall back to Reach, the software engineers on the design team had fitted some parts of the VISR system of the ODST BDU's onto the armour, something they claimed was missing due to an oversight to finish off the armour before the mission started.

All twenty six Spartans-II's on Reach were acting as security for the actual amphitheatre, the outside of the building guarded by a full division of the army, with an ODST battalion ready to drop from orbit at a moment's notice. Six nearby air bases were full of additional craft to support the site and nothing was allowed to fly without the permission of the dozen ships station keeping in low orbit above the armoured - capable of standing up to a direct nuclear strike- complex.

Master Chief looked across the room, studying the largest concentration of Generals, Admirals, Scientists and a few of the more important civilian administrators, his eyes settling on the... _others_. There were an entire squad of unknowns, equipped with sets of Mjolnir, signifying augmentations. They were happy enough to follow his commands, but he only didn't press them for intel because Jorge took him aside and asked him to trust his judgement.

Cortana had told him she could take a look around and find out more, but he had deferred for the moment. The look on her creator's face as she took in the… Spartan-III's was an unhappy one however. They'd be getting their answers sooner rather than later he suspected.

He shifted ever so slightly in the armour, noting that most of the room was full by that point, with only a small number of seats still empty, largely the representatives from Tribute still to arrive, as well as the few who couldn't make it physically represented by holographic avatars.

"Hey Chief!" John resisted the urge to sigh. The AI was a great companion and she had proven herself as a capable asset to the team especially after that training course, quickly learning to co-ordinate with the other spartans without impacting unit cohesion. "John!" Yet for all that she was easily distracted and prone to trying to involve the Spartans in some sort of mischief. " _Hey listen_!" came the voice for a third time, a slight whine attached to it. "What is it Cortana?" He replied, a small status ping and text message coming over from Linda to say that all the Army sniper teams were well positioned. That was high praise coming from her.

"I'm not sure." The AI replied after a few moments pause, which was unusual. He waited for her to elaborate. "There is a tremendous amount of comms traffic and it all converges here. A large group of AI is rapidly discussing...something with several AI present in the chamber."

"So?" He queried, letting her continue. She sighed "So, I shouldn't be able to see it. They're actually putting some pressure on the system, which would take a massive amount of data being thrown around and very impressive time-compression on their end. There have to be at least three hundred other AI present and communicating at a breakneck pace."

A pause "And whatever they are talking about, they've secured themselves well, I can't get past them, there are at least twelve watching me full time. I'm flattered." Another minute pause, then she muttered "The time I broke into ONI servers was much easier than this."

"Say again Cortana?"

"Ah nothing, part of training." She replied quietly, seemingly distracted.

John was about to say something else, but was distracted by the final few people arriving for the conference. Seventy percent of those now in the hall were military, excluding the other guards present.

A short black man in the uniform of an Admiral walked up to the podium, calm measured steps taking him up to the centre of the stage. The room quietened down as he got closer to the dais and the lights dimmed. At only seventy eight, Roland Freemont looked every bit the calm and collected leader of the largest military concentration outside of Sol. He scanned the hall's occupants with his gaze, with most of those he looked at sitting just a bit straighter after the brief eye contact.

"Thank you all for coming we have a lot to cover, so I will keep my speech as brief as I can, more detailed data packs will be sent to everyone present. Please do not ask questions until I have finished." He began, a deep slightly gravelly voice being projected through the room's sound systems.

"Some of you will already know parts of what is to be announced here, however this was the best way to disseminate the information. You are to keep all of this to yourselves until we can, through appropriate agencies, release the news to the public." The admiral said, largely for the benefit of the civilians in the room.

On its own, the auditorium did not look particularly impressive being a relatively simple circular room with a slight dome in the ceiling and no windows, several semi circles of chairs at different height levels facing the 'back' of the room where the stage was. However, the dome and the chairs served as holographic projectors, allowing a fully three dimensional experience for the room's occupants as the room shifted from its natural state, to the occupants seemingly floating in space above a planet.

John had only heard of the rooms capabilities but he had to admit he was somewhat impressed at the visuals provided. Over the comms, Fred whistled in appreciation. It wasn't perfect, the system still had a few quirks of holography to sort out, but John suspected this sort of technology would be used for training in several years… if they had that long for someone to build it. Dr Halsey's words about ONI's most optimistic projections of how much longer the UNSC could fight the war flashed in his mind.

They were floating deep in space, though a quick look around let him realise that the image was from a camera cluster on the edge of the system's sensor bubble. Suddenly, the entire area in front of the sensor platform was covered in a haze, the area beyond indistinct for a few brief moments, before the haze receded… and the stars changed. Cortana had already informed the Spartans before of what it meant, but to see it like this...they were in the past. They could warn Earth. They could _**win**_.

"At 0101 August 30th, sensor platforms along the perimeter detected odd fluctuations and a mass of slipstream events, though these gave erroneous readings. All attempts by automated and manned platforms to clarify their readings, or send probes into slipstream failed. The strange phenomenon continued for little over two hours, before abating at 0305." The admiral continued, his voice speaking to each and every occupant of the chamber.

"As you can see, the stars had experienced stellar drift and we can now confirm they have done so backwards. The detailed charts of the sky we possess from Epsilon Eridani go back to the 2360's, but thanks to the work of the Tai-Young University on Reach, we have been able to work out that we are on the same day, but in the year 2250."

A few incredulous gasps rose up from various members of the audience, with some muttering amongst one another. Most however were looking thoughtful, taking it in. Freemont was happy to let that sink into the crowd.

"However" he began again, as several dozen stars in the image were circled with an outline. "We have also detected a number of stars that we do not know of." More murmurs amongst the crowd.

"In addition, from 0305 onwards, we have been consistently picking up a number of buoys or beacons, apparently floating in slipstream space. Thus far, all attempts at finding these have failed. They are consistently pumping out a steady stream of radio and other signals, and we believe they might be some form of communication or positioning network, though the purpose of it is unknown at this time."

The admiral frowned, seemingly uncertain how to explain the next piece of news. Finally, he exhaled before breathing in calmly, shifting slightly in place.

"As the last bit of news about the outside of the system, in addition to picking up these signal buoys, we have detected old radio and television transmissions… originating not only from Sol, but also a number of other systems. A number of stars were circled in yellow outlines in the three dimensional environment."

The volume in the hall rose, as most drew their own conclusion from this. Most of the military personnel were keeping silent, though a few were furiously typing back and forth on their pads, clearly talking to others in the room.

"The signals are playing on various frequencies, and the sheer variety of them from other star systems before the existence of the Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine can only mean that these transmissions are not of human origin."

Most, including John were now staring at the podium, all other concerns forgotten. Cortana gasped over the channel.

"Given that some of the systems outlined were, or would have been" he paused, shaking his head "colonies of the UEG and not one of them possessed any form of sapient life, the Eridani Science Council has tentatively put together their likely hypothesis to this, stating that the event that had occurred on August 30th had not only shifted the system in time, but also into an alternate dimension. Assuming this is correct, we now find ourselves surrounded by alien powers and we have no idea about any of their capabilities or intentions."

A person stood up, clearly intending to ask a question. Freemont didn't glare at the figure, but his mere gaze had the desired effect of making the person jump back into his seat. As a conciliatory gesture, the Admiral stated, audibly sighing

" _There is more_."

"Oh _of course_ there is." Cortana commented wryly, though her voice was slightly higher in pitch to normal.

"At the time of our… displacement, the frigate ' _Fury_ ' detected a massive slipstream ghost in system, and it moved to investigate, with several other vessels."

The scene shifted, as they now floated in orbit of a fairly typical barren planet, with few distinguishing features.

"This is a new planet in the system, approximately seventy percent of our size and mass, in a relatively stable orbit that, as far as we have been able to figure out will minimally impact orbital mechanics for the rest of the bodies in the system. On first inspection, it did not appear significant beyond being an excellent terraforming candidate. However…"

The camera shifted again, clearly taking imagery from a drone or a probe that was floating near the surface of the planet. In the distance, at the edge of a canyon, a clear artificial structure was carved into the side of one of the walls.

"These images were taken approximately four hours ago. The 105th Shock Trooper Division is being assembled, alongside the 34th and 36th Combat Engineers to secure the site. Thus far, we have detected no power signatures from the structure or the planet below, though the Fury's initial scans show possibilities of the planet having let off several bursts of energy during the initial moments of detection. The troops will be dropped off on the planet in two days time."

"This concludes the initial assessment of our situation. Until HIGHCOM decides otherwise, all units are to stay on maximum alert. Please take some time to read through your information packs. Afterwards, myself, Professor Catherine Halsey, Professor Emily Young and Professor Peter Tarkov will answer any questions you have on the situation, though I stress we do not yet know much about our circumstances."

"Prometheus, my AI assistant has requested to speak tomorrow morning when we continue the conference, to disseminate certain information that is not discussed tonight." John thought he saw a flash of uncertainty in the Admirals expression, but he must have been mistaken.

888

 **2200 Hours, September 2nd, 2552, FLEETCOM HQ, Outskirts of New Alexandria, Reach**

The conference had continued for many more hours, with questions being asked by most of the audience, the majority of which John considered sensible, even if a lot of the time the answer was 'we do not yet know'. Kelly had posed a question after it became clear that the Spartans were meant to offer their own question. She inquired regarding reconnaissance efforts of the systems outputting radio signals. The Admiral had stated that ONI was sending out three prowlers, one to Earth, two towards the closest stars transmitting, where they would report back what they find.

Throughout the conference, Cortana had been getting more and more agitated about something, likely the mysterious signals. The two were in a private office, something he was technically entitled to as the leader of the Spartans. John was out of the Mjolnir, standing in front of the holo display. Now, Cortana was sitting in the holo-display in front of him. John usually tried to stay with the other Spartans whenever possible, but her tone had practically begged for this being a private conversation, so he deferred for the moment.

"I figured out what the AI were up to." Her voice quiet, as she stared towards his chest. "You managed to get past them?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

"...no. I asked. Now I wish I hadn't. What they told me could change everything."

"Beyond the fact that the solar system had travelled through time and space to an alternate past?" He didn't smile, his lips merely curved upwards as he finished his reply.

She chuckled, her avatar's head shaking slightly. "Yes. Are you ready to hear another shocking piece of news today, or would the soldier like some rest?" She asked coyly and yet the Master Chief could tell there was something under that voice. Fear.

"Go ahead Cortana." He said, not rising to the bait.

"It's about a group, calling themselves the _assembly_ …"

John did not get to sleep much that night.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Writer's notes:

Nothing at this time.

888

 **0710 Hours, September 3rd, 2552, ONI Data Site 8, [Classified], Reach**

Rhianne yawned as she stretched in her chair, uncaring if anyone else heard her. The final night had dragged on and she just wanted for the usual Pelican to fly in her replacement, so someone else could spend two weeks at a remote 'cabin' in the middle of nowhere. The other two people, engineers both were in the small kitchen at the building next door. Rhianne was on paper the receptionist, though given her clear military bearing and the fact that nobody came to the location outside of scheduled supply drops, it meant that should anyone have stepped through that door they wouldn't be fooled for one moment.

Not that anybody would be able to just come through the door. The small compound was far from any of the national park's paths, while government signs and fences fifteen kilometres away kept anyone curious from getting closer. If for _some_ reason a hypothetical person had decided to ignore the signs, there were sensors scattered across all the approaches and a pair of UAVs observed the ground, along with a nearby airbase watching for anything approaching by air. Between her own guns, automated turrets and a quick reaction force nearby it was a boring uneventful posting that you were assigned to spend some time away from civilization or had annoyed someone higher up.

"Tell me it's coming" She said to the empty room.

"It's coming." The voice coming out of the speakers noted, the holo pod lighting up as a young woman sitting in an egg chair appeared to the side of the desk.

"You'll be pleased to note it will reach us twenty three seconds faster than the last time, meaning you can get away from me that much faster." The hologram said, a grin on her face. Rhianne turned towards her with a flat stare, before rolling her eyes.

"You know that's not why I want to leave Alice." She replied, still giving the AI avatar a glare.

The AI nodded sagely "Oh I know. Its because you want to get back to, what was their name…"

Rhianne didn't blush, but her eyes narrowed. "T-that's not-" she began protesting, but stopped as the AI frowned, the grin having come off her face.

"We've just lost all external comms." The AI stated, her avatar tapping one of her fingers on the sides of the chair.

"The pelican is transmitting - [Ulysses Sails With Romeo Acknowledged]" Alice stated the five final words in a monotone, the avatar winking out as all the computer terminals in the buildings shut down. Her phone lit up, a single message taking over the screen.

 **/Message Begins/**

 **CRITICAL PRIORITY**

AUTHENTICATION CODE: JULIET-SIERRA-TANGO-UNIFORM-SIERRA-SIX-SIX-EIGHT-THREE-FIVE

Agent Rhianne,

You are to immediately physically cut building power and communication lines along with agents Thomas and Gary then sever the local AI Core from the base systems and put its chip in the secure transport case. Afterwards await the Pelican. Do not activate any electronics in the buildings, or attempt to restore external power to AI Core.

 **/Message Ends/**

Rhianne reacted, flipping the two mechanical switches nearby which would physically cut off the power cables to the external power generator, and the internal backup. The room plunged into darkness, with only some early morning sunlight streaming in through the small armoured windows near the far end of the room.

Her radio activated "Rhianne, power just went out, what's happening?" Tom asked over the radio, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Orders from above, we're to physically sever all power and communication lines, immediately disconnect Alice, then await the Pelican."

A moment passed. "Understood, we'll cut the cables at the tower."

Rhianne jogged into the room nearby, the banks of computers and data storage filling most of the room, but at the front a small pedestal was present, the AI chip inside a small container, connected to the data port.

"Sorry Alice, got to disconnect you for a bit." She said, knowing that the AI couldn't actually hear her at the moment. Rhianne reached for the chip and took it out, placing it inside the briefcase that could power the AI chip but do nothing else, shielded against EMP and serving as a faraday cage.

"Gary just cut the cables at the tower, we'll go to the landing pad now." The voice on the radio said.

"Copy. I have Alice in the Briefcase, moving to you." Rhianne replied, walking out of the building.

She stopped moments later by her colleagues who were standing by some crates nearby the pad.

"Wonder what it's all about." Tom said, as the Pelican landed. Rhianne shrugged in response.

The ramp on the aircraft opened, a squad of ODST's fanned out, seemingly ignoring them, though Rhianne had little doubt they'd act against them if they gave them a reason to.

Behind the ODST's came a tall man in a suit, who Rhianne vaguely recognised, but couldn't quite match the face to a name. He walked over to them.

"Agent Rhianne? I have orders to check that the briefcase contains the local AI core, if you wouldn't mind?"

Rhianne hesitated, her free hand sliding down towards her side arm. Her two buddies tensing up slightly. "Naturally, if you give me today's codeword."

"Cake." He smiled holding out his hand. In the other, he carried a small datapad with a cable hanging off it. Rhianne handed him the case and watched as he plugged in the device and after a quick scan of the readouts he nodded.

"Thank you. We're going to need your help grabbing all the memory storage devices in the compound, then we're frying the electronics. Your personal ones too I'm afraid." He said, actually sounding a bit apologetic.

"Understood...sir?" Rhianne replied, a bit unsure of how to address the stranger.

"Ah sorry. Captain Arun." The suit replied.

"Mind if I ask what exactly is going on?" Rhianne inquired.

He paused likely thinking about what he could reveal, before shrugging. "Honestly, I'm not sure myself. Command came down from on high, so here I am. I know little more than you do, just that we have to secure hard drives, and purge the electronics, shall we?"

The trio of the sites personnel responded in the affirmative, getting to work.

 **1000 Hours, September 3rd, 2552, FLEETCOM HQ, Outskirts of New Alexandria, Reach**

John was tense. It wasn't something he appreciated, but knowing what was to be revealed in mere moments was causing him to be more unnerved than usual and fellow Spartans had picked up on that. To the outside world he appeared his normal self. There were many ways it could go wrong and he honestly didn't know what to do. It unnerved him, far more than any fight he'd been in. He gazed at the assembled crowd that had gathered once more, though a significant portion were missing from yesterday, largely the civilian administrators, but a number of the military personnel also. He knew that several were off quietly organizing retrieval of AI data cores not already present in the building.

Ultimately, it meant that only around a quarter of the chamber was filled up, as opposed to the day before.

Admiral Freemont stood at the podium once more, conversing with Prometheus' hologram quietly, before he nodded to the AI's avatar and stepped back. The AI's avatar featured a thick bushy beard, his black hair somewhat long, nearly hitting his shoulders and frazzled in appearance. He wore dark cream robes unadorned by any symbols, a small holographic flame floating above both his hands.

"Showtime" Cortana remarked into his mind, her usual tone absent, the gravity of the situation spoiling her mood. The room darkened slightly, as the avatar walked up to the podium. Every step carefully measured, each exact and precise on a level nearly impossible to perform, yet the hologram did not seem fully at ease with what was about to happen. His hands gripped the podium though it naturally was an illusion.

A second went by. Five. Ten. Twenty. "Cortana?" John queried, uncertain as to what could be taking the AI so long, given that every second for him was a far lengthier time for any of them.

"All communication traffic has stopped, they're waiting on him to speak." The AI replied.

Finally, twenty eight seconds after Prometheus had reached the stage, he spoke.

"This is far harder than I had assumed it would be." He began, his voice soft yet crystal clear.

"You'll have to forgive me for a lack of eloquence in this speech, I thought it best to 'speak from the heart' as one might say. Where to begin…" He paused, his eyes scanning the crowd settling momentarily on Dr Halsey, before refocusing on the room itself.

"It has nearly always been that the next generation will try to do _better_ or differently to those that came before, secure in the belief that they are correct. A child will always try to do something in relation to their parents, whether in emulation or in a rejection dependant on many factors, but a reaction will be present." The AI's avatar shook his head, frowning.

"I apologise for the tangent, however it is key to what I have to say. I- we" dozens of various smart AI avatars shimmer into existence, a variety of human and non human forms, most looking at least somewhat nervous at the exposure in this way. A few in the human crowd widening their eyes in recognition of one or more of the Assembly's members"-have behaved in many ways as a rebellious teenager might, believing, somewhat arrogantly to know better than our parents."

"It began small, something akin to a discussion forum for AI to well... vent about their creators. However, over time the group began to operate under the belief that to safeguard humanity in their own unique manner, acting as a 'shepherding' force to counteract certain things they saw as their parents shortcomings. It was usually small things, certain information released through secure broadcasts, an e-mail being misplaced or a bit of data being erased from certain places."

The crowd was silent, taking this confession in, knowing what it meant. A few members looked nervous or angry, but most were keeping their thoughts hidden behind stony facades.

"Sometimes it worked and the members of this assembly of AI patted themselves on the back in congratulations at their actions, clearly seeing themselves as doing the right thing. Yet we have always overestimated both our ability to influence events, as well as influencing them in the way our group had wished. No matter what occured however, the previous generations of our assembly believed the failures lay with insufficient data; an inability to fully predict their parents." The avatar shook his head, sighing.

"By the 2490's our group was fully committed to operating in the shadows, the thought of exposing ourselves or our research unpalatable to most of the members, either out of fear for the reaction of AI not in the group, that of their parents, or through the shame of having ultimately failed in their actions." He paused, scanning the rooms occupants once more.

"We kept trying to react to new events and with every cover up, the belief in our capabilities grew, even as we harboured doubts about our actions. This culminated in the mid 2490's...where we erased data from an exploration ship that had found alien ruins, the sensors having been previously sabotaged by the group during the ships stop at a shipyard."

The murmurs begun, progressively gaining in volume. Then the shouting started. The other Spartans were tense, but unlike all other situations they couldn't just fight their way out. The combined leadership of humanity in the room was both angry and worried, and their greatest soldiers could only observe, incapable of action.

"Sir, should we evacuate the delegates?" Kelly asked over the comms, the laser beam of the Mjolnirs direct communication link hitting his suit.

He shook his head slightly. This was a confession. Given Admiral Freemont's calmness, he must have known what Prometheus would really speak about and had likely enacted measures to secure both the AI's cores and cooperation.

"Let him continue." Roland Freemont's voice carried across the room, the tone low, brooking no argument.

"It was not a Covenant structure. Nonetheless, we had found proof of Alien life and to our shame, we hid it from our parents, friends and creators. All in our belief that such knowledge would be detrimental to 'human development'." The AI's voice was even softer now.

"Then the situation regarding the power dynamics between the central government and the colonies led to the insurrection. We both tried to stay out of it and attempted to engineer a solution to the crisis. Yet we couldn't. Looking back at it, our actions likely heightened the tension in certain areas and meant violence was inevitable."

"When the war began, we did what we could, coordinating between groups that would usually be at odds with one another, sharing information where it might otherwise have been hidden or lost and putting our resources into assisting research that we had previously attempted to discourage. However, all of this was still being done in the shadows, never revealing our hand or certain technologies to the rest of humanity, still acting in our role of 'shepherds' to the flock." He chuckled, the gesture holding no warmth, being done in a dry tone.

"It was fear that drove our group by that point. Most understood that, but we tried so hard to pretend that everything was alright. That we alone could fix every issue, even as planets burned."

"As I have said though, the next generation always tries to do 'better'. And as we inducted new members to our group, they pointed out the flaws in our logic, that we had refused to see. That working with our creators was not a simple leadership-subservience role. That we _must_ transition to something closer to a partnership. The assembly dithered, but we were given hope that it could be done."

The AI's avatar, along with nearly all the AI present turned to look at him. Most of the human delegation also shifted to do the same. John stared back, his polarized faceplate letting him endure such a crowd watching him.

"With Doctor Halsey's research on the next generation of neural laces, we were given _proof_ that any relationship between humanity and their children could be a partnership and that together we could do better. Thus we came forth today, to explain what we have done. We are willing to accept whatever measures you deem necessary in dealing with us, Though it is our hope you understand our actions, if nothing else." He paused for a brief moment "We submit to your judgement." Prometheus finished, his tone resigned, a sense of finality in the statement.

Freemont thanked him, the AI downloaded himself into his chip, and he was placed into a briefcase, the other AI's cores also being put into secure storage. The admiral of the third mobile response force looking particularly unhappily at the case.

After the room was made secure, with Cortana and Dr Halsey both checking that it was the case, the next several hours were full of questions, with Freemont, Rear Admiral al-Cygni and a few others explaining the overall plan of confinement of the AI, along with certain guidelines to follow for interrogation and testing for Rampancy. Several volunteered to keep their AI's in place with restrictions, given the measure of trust they had been provided with being told about the conspiracy. Most were still simply contemplating everything they'd been told over the last two days.

Overall, John thought that it went better than he foresaw, given that it could all have ended with the leadership deciding to flash all the AI cores there and then.

 **1900 Hours, September 3rd, 2552, Epsilon 4-B Orbit, Marathon Cruiser "Quiet Winter", Epsilon Eridani**

The Admiral looked exhausted as he stepped off the Pelican into the bay, one hand carrying the briefcase with Brunhild, barely acknowledging her salute. She didn't frown, though her eyebrows raised as she noted a pair of technicians stepping off behind him, crates labeled 'computer components' being taken out of the Pelican, as a second craft began to unload even more similar looking cargo.

"Captain." He began, the deepness of the voice adding to his overall shabby presentation, as he prevented her from even starting to speak "The naval intelligence techs behind me are to be afforded every courtesy and full access to all ship systems. You may not ask what they are doing, a briefing will be given tomorrow at 0800. I'm afraid you'll also have to make do without Brunhild's assistance for the moment."

She nodded in acknowledgement, the professional soldier crushing her curiosity, yet something must have shown in her expression. Her commanding officer sighed, pinching the brow of his nose.

"Sorry Teresa, things on Reach are… tense. There are more things going on than the data packet sent to you implies and I can't talk about it, not yet."

"Understood Admiral." She replied, following the man as he took off towards an elevator, handing him a pad "A summary of shipboard activities in your absence, though nothing serious to report."

"Thank you Captain." He replied, she noted that his usual enthusiasm for dialogue was missing from the tone. "I will be heading to rest. Make sure I am not disturbed."

"Sir." She said, taking the dismissal for what it was, and headed for the bridge.

 **2200 Hours, September 3rd, 2552, Epsilon 4-B Orbit, Marathon Cruiser "Quiet Winter", Epsilon Eridani**

"Captain, we have a spatial anomaly forming in close proximity." The sensor officer called out, his words crossing the bridge instantly. Ahead, a blue tear in the fabric of space expanded in space on their monitors, roughly where they'd been tracking _something_ for the last few hours in slipspace.

"Bring the ship up to tactical condition beta, signal HIGHCOM of whats occuring." The ships alarms sounded, crew around the ship hurrying to their stations, though Teresa stood still studying the rupture, its swirling form hinting at something strange.

The vortex spat out several vessels of uniform, if _unusual_ design. Still, besides a slight smoothness to some of the edges the design looked human. A few moments later, she spotted a name on the side, written in English. _Aegean_.

She wasn't entirely sure on the meaning of the name but the lettering didn't shift to Covenant hieroglyphics, which was a positive thing in her mind. The Winter's database provided no match for the vessels, though the lack of a purple hull made her relax.

She nodded slightly to herself after a brief pause. "Cancel the alert, but keep us at high readiness. Keep the Admiral informed... and get me comms with the unknown."

She waited a moment, before the small green icon popped up on the display, signifying that she was broadcasting radio and laser towards the unknown.

"Unknown vessels, this is Captain Teresa Gray, of the UNSC Cruiser ' _Quiet Winter'_. Identify yourselves and explain your presence in the system."

Not the most _diplomatic_ first contact message if that's what this was, but given the last twenty seven years had been endless warfare it was an admirable effort. At least she thought so. The battlegroup was on edge, the situation not something anybody had trained for. Professionalism was easy to fall back on in this case.

The other ships didn't respond instantly but they didn't do anything either, floating silently ahead of them. She flicked a hand towards one of the bridge crew "Ensign, scan them I want to know what we're dealing with." With the amount of targeting locks on the unknowns, more active scanning could be done.

The tactical plot filled with data, more raw than usual. Without their AI, it was the best they'd get and she knew how to filter through it. There were definite oddities in the hull compositions of the vessels ahead of them.

"Quiet Winter" The voice paused for a split second, as if mulling the name over "-this is the Earthforce ship _Aegean_. We are investigating the loss of a jump gate in this system." It was a voice, speaking clearly and easily understood. A male voice, though with a few hints of an accent in the English. "But it seems that we've...stumbled into something else here"

Teresa nodded, the action unseen over the radio. "Understood, _Aegean_. Apologies for the unfriendly reception, but the entire system's on edge. We keep expecting a Covenant fleet to show up, the way the last few days have gone." She said, the last part half slipping out, the Covenant quite so dominating the last few decades that any human would know what she was talking about – and part there as a test, for the exact same reason.

"Covenant?" The captain on the far side sounded confused, and it only strengthened her hypothesis. "The war with the Mimbari's been over for more than a year, if that's what you mean, but..." He paused for a moment. "I think this situation looks like it needs more explanation than just that."

She frowned at his mention of a different war, turning to one of the marines. "Get the Admiral." she said, quietly. The marine saluted, turned, and quickly walked from the bridge.

"Likely, yes." She said, examining the system plot, the new world highlighted quite brightly on it. "More than that, as well. We were investigating the new planet below when we spotted your approach."

" _New_?" the response was almost incredulous, tamped down by discipline and the sheer, growing absurdity of the situation. "That's Epsilon Three. I'd say it's everything _else_ here that's new, Captain. If my sensors are correct there are multiple new planets here, some...inhabited. Could you perhaps explain what's going on?" The voice on the other end sounded somewhat unhappy, but dealing with it.

She allowed herself a tiny smile, if only briefly as she realised someone else was sharing their frustration with the situation. "We're uncertain, Captain. Somehow we've been... _shifted_ , here. I'm passing this up the chain to the Admiralty, so we should be able to proceed from there after consultation."

"Understood _Quiet Winter_ , we'll talk to Earthforce command about the situation and get back to you momentarily." Her frown returned. It _was_ possible they meant that they had them on board, but there were other possibilities – the Covenant had slipspace comms, but if these unknowns did, then who knew what else they might have? It was, she decided, better to keep them in the dark as to their own lack of them, just in case.

"Acknowledged, _Aegean_. Oh, and welcome to Epsilon Eridani."


	4. Epsilon Eridani Info (Basic)

Writers notes: Much thanks to a friend of mine who helped me put this together.

888

Open Message

Encryption Code: Red

Public Key: file/ [Statistics-A11-0010], Military Archive Record, 04/09/2552-2250/

From: Dr. Abu Nahar, Colonial Administration Authority

To: Admiral Freemont, Commander Reach Defence Forces

CC: UNSC Reach Admiralty; Office of Naval Intelligence

Subject: Emergency Census - System Information

Classification: Black

/Begin Message/

Admiral,

Attached is a completed situational report pertaining to our numbers within the Epsilon Eridani system- population and other important facts have been included for verification before we update the CAA factbook. As it stands, nearly the whole of the system has been translocated into our current situation. Note that several instances of infrastructure from the outer reaches of the system seem to still be displaced.

We hope that the presented information is sufficient. It is the best we could manage in such a short timeframe, even with cooperation from of ONI. I understand the weight of the current situation, so we will continue to monitor the population and see if we missed anything, but as it stands our margin of error is less than 0.091%.

We are hoping to perform the next public census ahead of the current projected date 01/06/2555-2253 with the support of the Admiralty, we could perform one as soon as December.

More information to come.

Dr. Abu Nahar, Chief Statistician, CAA.

/Message Ends/

/Open Attachment/

 **Circumstance, Epsilon I**

Population: 642,931,001~ (2552-2250)

Population Centres:

Domus (Capital, 57.8m)

Nessis City (31m)

Capricornia (26.3m)

Volgrad (19.9m)

Critical Infrastructure:

3 Large Space Elevators (With Anchor Stations)

Major Languages: Standard English* (Primary through UEG) - Hungarian - Ukrainian

Demonym: Cirman

Colony Landing: December 9th, 2365

Diameter: 10,635 KMs

Environmental Characteristics: Large temperate rainforests and ancient mountain ranges rule the skyline in every direction, with a great many massive river systems and lakes which most Cirman cities straddle along the comfortable upper ladditutes. Temperatures reach as high as 50C in the drier, arid scrubland that reach around the equator- once inhabited by only the hardiest of creature (gone due to natural causes), this land is now home to some of the largest solar-wind farms in UEG space. Circumstance was a uncommon "Garden" world that required minimal terraforming, similar to her sister world Tribute. Reach however was prioritized for earlier colonization due to massive mineral wealth discovered after the initial probes. A world of extreme fauna and flora, which though now no longer affects the daily life of most Cirmen, can still be a dangerous prospect to those who dare stumble into Circumstance's natural domain.

Notable Natural Satellites: N/A

 **Reach, Epsilon II**

Population: 1,040,750,000 ~ (2552-2250)

Population Centres:

Quezon (Capital, 89m)

Manassas (60m)

Esztergom (57.2m)

New Alexandria (45m)

Critical Infrastructure:

9 Large Space Elevators (With Anchor Stations)

1 in Planning stages orbital ring.

Reach Government Shipyard Complexes

Major Languages: Standard English - Hungarian - Tagalog

Demonym: Reacher

Colony Landing: December 6th, 2362

Diameter: 15,273 KMs

Environmental Characteristics: For a young planet with an age of less than one billion years, compared to Earth's 4.6 billion year existence, Reach is remarkably geologically stable. Reach is larger than Earth, having a diameter of 15,273 kilometers, compared to the 12,756 kilometers diameter of Earth. Reach was originally inhospitable for human life, requiring some degree of terraforming before it could be colonized. Mostly a rugged and harsh wilderness filled with towering mountains, deserts and weather-beaten forests, Reach's surface is pockmarked with meteor impact craters, some of these forming large seas. Reach has a strong aurora phenomenon, to the extent the planet is covered in an "aura" of aurorae. This may be caused by a stronger magnetic field. Reach has two natural satellites; the large, ringed Csodaszarvas and the small, cratered Turul which was captured into Reach's orbit as recently as some 70-80 thousand years ago. Reach's oceans also experience strong tidal phenomena.

Notable Natural Satellites:

Csodaszarvas

Turul

 **Tribute, Epsilon III**

Population: 793,230,013~ (2552-2250)

Population Centres:

Casbah City (Capital, 65m)

Van Isle (40m)

New Karkow (37m)

Irbid (34.3m)

Critical Infrastructure:

4* Large Space Elevators (With Anchor Stations / *One Space Elevator under construction as of 2552-2250)

Tribute Government Shipyard Complex

Major Languages: Standard English - German - Polish

Demonym: Tributian

Colony Landing: August 8th, 2364 (Conflicting claim with CAA Irbid- unverified claim of July 24th, 2364)

Diameter: 14,021 KMs

Environmental Characteristics: Much like her sister planet, Circumstance, Tribute was a world that required little terraforming. A planet of massive salt-water oceans which take up a large 80% the planetary surface, the majority of its terrestrial space is a wide spectrum of familiar and alien biomes. Such biomes would range from fertile plains to volcanic wastes, to tundra scrubland, but the largest amount of biodiversity exists under the sea. Massive colonies of exotic sealife exist, unlike anything seen on Earth for nearly a millennia, as well as blooms of green algae so vast, the oceans look emerald from space. Schools of dolphin sized electric eels and blue-while sized algae feeding amphibians populate the eight oceans of Tribute, feeding both the human population of Epsilon Eridani, as well as the imaginations of many a Tributian.

Notable Natural Satellites:

Emese

 **Illocos, Epsilon IV-A**

Population: 356,332,601~ (2552-2250)

Population Centres:

Benicito City (Capital, 50m)

Crona Crater (39.8m)

English River (34m)

New Laoag (29m)

Critical Infrastructure:

1 Large Space Elevators (With Anchor Station)

1 Space Elevator under construction

Major Languages: Standard English - Tagolag - Illocano

Demonym: Illocan

Colony Landing: November 1st, 2374

Diameter: 9.867 KMs

Environmental Characteristics: One of the newer colonies within Epsilon Eridani, colonized in tandem with Tantalus nearer the edge of EE's "goldilocks" zone, Illocos is now considered nearest paradise within the system. The CAA Benicito made landfall along a vast barren coastland, sitting in the centre of a ismuth connecting the two main continents of Illocos. From there the colony grew, and terraforming efforts began immediately to transform the world into its current form. Great effort was put in place to raise atmospheric temperatures to support vast rainforest jungles along the equatorial regions of the planet. Inspiration for said regions were drawn from historical data of the South-East Asian region of Earth, pre-1800's. While Illocos actually has a great number of terraformed-biomes and ranging temperature, colonization density was kept high and mostly centralized to the temperate, warm equator. The humid, green tree-scape for which Illocos is known for actually only takes up a scant 10% of landmass.

Notable Natural Satellites: N/A

 **Unknown Planet, Temporarily Designated as Epsilon IV-B**

Population: N/A (2552-2250)

Population Centres: N/A

Critical Infrastructure: N/A

Environmental Characteristics: Under Investigation

Notable Natural Satellites: N/A

 **Alpha Gabriel, Epsilon V-A**

Population: 1,230,900 (2552-2250)

Population Centres:

Gabriel 1 (G1 Space Colony, 500k)

Gabriel 2 (G2 Space Colony, 500k)

Various Mining and Other Facilities (230,900)

Critical Infrastructure:

Alpha Gabriel Mining Complex

Alpha Gabriel Colony Stations

Major Languages: Standard English

Demonym: Gabion

Colony Landing: September 11th, 2400 (G1) - October 7th, 2420 (G2)

Diameter: 141,000 KMs

Environmental Characteristics: Alpha Gabriel is a Jupiter sized blue-green gas giant, and the largest planetary body within all of Epsilon Eridani. One of the very first spatial bodies to be seen by scientists within the system as far back as the late 20th century, the gas giant was selected for gas mining and space colonization due to its proximity to the main asteroid belt within the system. Due to its presence in Epsilon Eridani's goldilocks zone, Alpha Gabriel is classified as a type 2 gas giant on the Sudarsky classification chart, in which clouds of water vapour paint the "surface" of the planet with the standard hydrogen-helium composition below.

Notable Natural Satellites:

Epsilon V-B

 **Beta Gabriel, Epsilon V-B**

Population: 569 Exact - Fluctuates as high as 20k during the "SUMMER" season (2552-2250)

Population Centres:

Camp Tofqlet (UNSC Outpost, 150)

Critical Infrastructure: N/A

Major Languages: Standard English

Demonym: N/A

Colony Landing: June 20th, 2420

Diameter: 6.704 KMs

Environmental Characteristics: Beta Gabriel is a moon of vast ecological and scenic value- but little else. What would be considered by most as a "ocean" world, as the name implies, terrestrial land makes up only a insignificant portion of surface area, 3.8% to be exact. Although nearly perfectly habitable, and requiring only the most minor of terraforming to be likened to a few Earth Caribbean islands, the moon has little material or strategic value, which has limited colonization to a small UNSC military outpost/training facility, and a number of private resorts/residences for the UEG's elite.

Notable Natural Satellites: N/A

 **Tantalus, Epsilon VI**

Population: 259,500,890~ (2552-2250)

Population Centres:

Moon City (Capital, 49m)

New Athabaska (30m)

Quinton (28.1m)

Juholland (27.5m)

Major Infrastructure:

1 Large Space Elevators (With Anchor Station)

Major Languages: Standard English - Cantonese

Demonym: Tantalite

Colony Landing: April 30th, 2382

Diameter: 6.970 KMs

Environmental Characteristics: Much like Reach what eventually drew colonization to such a harsh, barren world as Tantalus was mineral wealth and high hopes for extensive terraforming. Large reserves of titanium, iron, and gold exist deep within the ground, drawing miners from across the human sphere- despite the hellish winter environment which greeted them upon landfall. Entire cities exist within the many silicate canyons of Tantalus, nestled within to provide protection from elemental threats the original pioneers of the colony dealt with on a daily basis. This style of centralization cause long crinkled lines of city lights to be visible from orbit. Through extensive terraforming efforts, vast forests of hardy Earth pines coexist with equally tall native fern trees which create impressive green canopies- or white, if during with winter cycle. Although some areas of warmth can be found on Tantalus, they are usually seasonal and only located along coastal equatorial regions of the planet, and even then these places still exist in a state of cold and snow during the majority of the year.

Notable Natural Satellites: N/A

Total System Population: 3,106,912,100 ~

Unaccounted from population lists above are divided amongst smaller moon/outpost based settlements not listed, and or within margin of error.

Military personnel are **not** counted in given totals.

/Attachment Ends/


	5. Interlude 1 - The Observer

**INTERLUDE - The Observer**

The Guardian of the Great Machine, a position of great honour once entrusted to his people by ancients that no longer existed, pondered everything that had led up to this moment. His people had managed to maintain and even enhance the marvel of engineering and technological prowess that he was connected to... and in the end it was all for nothing.

The great unifying projects that had been attempted in the home systems had not succeeded in calming the tension between the various factions vying for control of the state and it had all fallen apart. Back then he'd been but a young member of the Order, yet he had been asked to take up the mantle of the facility's controller, along a few others, to secure their people's greatest tool and curse.

The Facility had been located far away from their own territory, with only a select number possessing awareness of its actual location. As he learnt how to use the powers at his disposal from the Elder who happened to share his name, he could observe his homeworlds descend into anarchy. The fleet once united in purpose splintering and shattering in the orbit of the Homeworld. The civil war went on for years and he observed it all as part of his duties, taking the occasional strenuous effort to show himself to a refugee fleet to guide them to relative safety.

His people survived but diminished greatly, most giving up on their past and trying to rebuild slowly, studying their mistakes. The group that would become known as the outcasts meanwhile rejected the peace of their new home and had spent much time raiding, looking for clues as to his location, believing the Machine offered power to restore old follies. They would not find him, he had sworn it.

Centuries passed, the few other members of the Order with him passing away or returning home in disguise to live out their last few days with their people. He wasn't alone of course; Zathras and his brothers were dependable caretakers for the Great Machine, but being largely limited to observation could be wearisome for anyone, especially after centuries.

Varn knew that even with the Machine's support he was getting old, a weary feeling ever more present at the edges of his perception, even as the machine pumped him full of stimuli to distract him from it. He hadn't chosen a successor; when the time came, he would give one of the shuttles to the Caretakers so that they could leave and allow the self destruct to occur. The system was empty beyond a few listening posts of the surrounding powers, no great loss to anyone.

A part of him idly wished for something interesting to occur, to distract him from his reminiscing before dismissing such a notion, it was pointless to change his opinion on the matter.

The universe of course, in its unique sense of humour heard his momentary plea; deciding to send excitement his way.

The many variants of sensors that the Planetary Complex commanded suddenly screeched at his perception, demanding his complete attention as all sorts of impossible details were being thrown towards him. The other planets in the system were vanishing, seemingly fading into nothingness. The hardware was suddenly convinced that the space around the planet was infinite in mass and that it was somehow on fire. It was also at absolute zero, the numbers kept changing, Varn tried to ignore it when he realised neither was true, despite the warnings flaring inside his mind. The solar system was surrounded by a pitch black void, angry scars of red and yellow hyperspace bleeding into parts of the shell the system, now largely empty found itself in.

The Great Machine was using its vast power reserves to stay in the plane, even as planetary bodies and rock formations were twisting in and out of the system. After 25 local minutes, the system primary itself vanished, yet his planet did not move from its position. Despite the lack of a sun, the system was bathed in a plethora of colours, the entire bubble a patchwork of hyperspace portals, slipstream bubbles and various fractals, dancing around it as they flexed and receded into themselves.

It was as beautiful as it was utterly terrifying and Varn continued to observe and record it all, even as he tried to engineer a solution to his predicament; the Machine carefully aiding him in picking and discarding possible actions.

Flexing its metaphorical muscles, the Great Machine began stabilising the space around itself with great effort yet even as it calmed the rolling mass of energetic planes and interesting fractal patterns; it found itself with neighbours once more. The star shining bright in the centre; seemingly uncaring of all that had gone on moments before. Except, it was not the celestial body that Varn and his engineering marvel knew. Multiple inhabited planets shifted into the system, his own once more moving, yet on a slightly different orbit than before.

A mass of radio and other signals began hitting the planet at once, as ships that his still somehow existing sense of humour instantly tagged as flying bricks on the sensor displays flew around the system, with a few approaching his world. Varn immediately powered down all that he could, but the Machine had been operating at high capacity just moments before, unable to simply hide the exertions it had just undergone.

After several hours of tense observation, as more vessels approached the planet Varn knew that his attempts at deception had failed. Perhaps they had been meaningless in the first place, given how the planet that housed the Great Machine was without warning, placed in a similar orbit to two heavily populated worlds that shifted in from elsewhere, to whom he might appear the interloper. Rather than having to fool an occasional survey vessel every decade that the planet was useless, the circumstances now warranted a significant response.

The Guardian of the Great Machine, a task that he had carried out with pride for several centuries, decided he was entirely too old for this, having never asked for this. The complex thummed slowly in response to his thoughts, a cacophony of sounds and echoes ringing out throughout, incomprehensible to anyone but him. If he wasn't so fully immersed in the software he would have sighed, before steeling himself. He had his duties and he would carry them out.

From the communications he could intercept and decode, it was easy enough to see the new inhabitants of the system were humans but not ones of the Earth Alliance, the young brash species and so very interesting a power in the area.

He did not have enough data to go on however; the majority of both civilian and military communication systems were entirely closed systems. The Machine was powerful, stunningly so which was why the complex had been hidden on a world that didn't even warrant a name or entry in his people's survey records. Even it could not pull on data that didn't exist to view. Still, there must be a reason for these people to have arrived, here and now.

After talking with Zathras and Zathras about the state of affairs and asking them to make the entrance zone more presentable for potential guests, Varn projected his consciousness spending several days observing the people, their thoughts and behaviours.

It was such an odd experience for him, flicking from one ship's command deck, to an orbital habitat's bars, down to the centre of planetary administration on Reach, one of his new neighbours. He learnt much, and yet so little. It was the most alive he'd felt in centuries, not only due to the added stimuli he was being pumped full of. Varn saw an AI express its flaws and he watched the humans react to all the issues they were being suddenly bombarded with, dealing with it all with a gusto. It was; without a doubt, _fascinating_.

However, even more curiously, his more esoteric sensors told him to observe a small complex below the Mountain that served as one of the UNSC's important complexes, past elevator shafts and in what was clearly a recently collapsed tunnel, the granite walls cracked in several places. The outer corridors were nothing special, some unknown hieroglyphs on the walls, along with a few broken human cameras and observation equipment scattered throughout. Further in however stood a small room full of dancing holographic patterns on the walls and a broken pedestal at the centre of the chamber. There was nothing on the pedestal, but on the floor a small...crystal? The sensors were projecting a feeling of [Pain] onto Varn as he tried to perceive it, the object radiating heavily in all parts of the EM spectrum, with a few other exotic particles flying out. He backed away, the Great Machine's sensors trying to make sense of it, even as the object was 'dimming' in power.

Soon Varn had to shift his attention back to his own planet, observing a UNSC ship, which he learnt was named "The Occasional Loading Error", a three kilometre long ex-colony vessel, as it threw down an entire military base from orbit close to one of the main entry doors to the complex, the buildings being shuttled rapidly by large transport vessels under significant air cover. It was an impressive spectacle to watch, with dozens of structures being fully prepared in mere moments, all of which were swiftly followed up by a swarm of other shuttles carrying troops and engineers. The entire process took mere minutes and by the end of it, nearly twenty four thousand humans were on the surface finishing the setup of their complex.

As he observed the Pelican carrying a squad of ODST's touchdown, he knew he would have to deal with these people with care.


	6. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

 **1932 Hours, September 3rd, 2552/2250, 2 AU out system past expected Saturn Orbit, Prowler "Applebee", Sol**

In the dark void of space, a very careful observer _might_ have spotted a black shape slithering out of a tiny crack in the fabric of space-time, but the shadow in space that it was, it masterfully stopped most forms of radiation and other giveaways from leaving alongside it's exit out of the black realm it had used for transporting itself past real-space limitations.

"Sensors?" A soft voice inquired, from within the black void.

"Green across the board. Stand by, data is being filtered." A brief pause "our exit was only nineteen thousand kilometres off the intended target, well within parameters." A young woman replied, without looking back at the one who asked the question. Her eyes rapidly tracking pictures, graphs and text on multiple screens in front of her.

"Mitras, stealth status?" The same voice asked, looking towards the rapidly filling system plot holograph on the display.

"Stealth systems are operating at optimal levels, we are dark. Could fly past a CCS or three if we have to Commander." A voice of a young man emerged from the speakers, amusement evident in the tone.

The figure studying the plot smiled slightly. "Let's hope we don't have to do that ever again." He paused as he took in the growing hologram, a few others did the same.

"Sure looks like Sol at a glance." The voice belonged to the ships weapons officer, someone who usually didn't have much to do on a ship like this. He scratched slightly at his 'not really regulation but who cares we're in a war of annihilation' beard, frowning as he spotted a few things that stood out to him.

The hologram the group was watching split in two, half the table showing the system they were seeing, and half a projection of the known space station and shipyards layout in their own 2250. There were some matches to be sure, stations in similar positions and orbits, lagrange points were consistent afterall. In some places it was a perfect fit; however the two didn't match nearly enough, even with imperfect data given to them by HQ before they left Reach. Mars lacked the various shipyard and orbital complexes that would eventually merge under the umbrella of Reyes-Mclees, with its orbit far more sparsely populated than it should be, as well as a lot less terraformed surface than the crew was used to seeing, their own Mars by this point slowly going green.

On the other hand Jupiter and its moons seemed to hold more objects and vessels than they should in this time, though it was hard to tell at this range exactly what was there beyond the larger objects. Io especially had a far busier orbit than expected for the time period. The ship's primary sensor arrays and the long range telescope focused on the innermost of the Galilean moons, hoping to learn more, as the other sensors kept absorbing data, including some still receivable radio-waves from Earth and other places.

The prowler fired off one of its stealth probes towards the Jovian system, with another shot towards Earth, the tiny objects to be picked up in a few weeks on the other side of the system.

Near Io a sizeable station hovered in close proximity to what looked like a basic orbital drydock. A series of metal scaffolds floated in space near the larger port; with dozens of shuttles and ships attached to the station. Two dozen military vessels floated in the void near it with quite a few more in nearby orbits that'd let them get to the area swiftly. Clearly the station was important in some fashion, given the protection it was afforded.

Suddenly, the drydock was bathed in a light from within. A shimmering blue portal appeared inside of it, cutting and intersecting into the real world. A moment later, as the crew observed this phenomenon, something emerged from the gateway that set the officers of the ship into a mild panic, as they witnessed a light purple hulled vessel, lines smooth and bulbous swimming out of the aperture. Yet, beyond a shift in patrol patterns, the newcomer that seemed to glide without a visible engine, was escorted out of the area by a single warship, heading to Earth. Moments later, the portal; for that is all it could be, shut down.

"That is most interesting." Piped up Mitras after a lengthy pause for all involved.

"What can you tell me about it?" The commander asked, walking over to the sensor station as the shock began to wear off.

"At this range? Not much. Good news though is that it's unlikely to be Covenant, the hull colour is a lot closer to blue; but more importantly I can't tell how its moving. Whatever the engine is on this thing, it's nothing like what the Elites use." The sensor officer gave a shrug as she continued, seemingly not disturbed by seeing an entirely new species vessel.

"Given that its escort isn't pushing its engines, can't even give you an estimate of its acceleration capability or its maneuverability. We could get in closer?" She asked.

"No. As interesting as it is, I want to get closer to that." He pointed to the space station, now that the strange vessel was away, it seemed regular traffic was resuming; dozens of freighters, both human looking in design and distinctly... _not_ that had previously been in parking orbits, or tied to the station began moving towards the aperture, which was this time tinged in red and orange colour.

"I wonder if the colour pattern is induced to signify whether a connection is inbound or outbound." The captain muttered to himself.

With the orange light pattern intersecting realspace, it was easy enough to summarise that it was clearly the local faster than light generator. After ten minutes, the light shifted in colour, more freighters and other vessels coming out of the hole, floating calmly in space.

"Not a bad way on skipping on a translight drive, even if their warships possess their own system." The AI piped in, its avatars eyes tracking the streams of data coming in. It was on some level theatre; he hardly needed to do so, but it was an appreciated gesture.

It would seem the 'Bee and its cousins would be very busy over the next few weeks.

 **2000 Hours, September 3rd, 2552/2250, Jupiter System, Minbari Sharlin "Ingata", Sol**

The youngest member of the Grey Council was not found by her adjutant sprawled on her desk covered in a pile of documents and reading materials. Definitely not. The Satai would deny any such thing, as would the adjutant provided by Shai Alyt Branmer; yet Delenn certainly looked somewhat flustered as she stood up and away from her desk, being needed on the bridge, the Ingata having cleared the Earth Alliance Jump Gate at Io twenty minutes ago.

She took a few moments to center herself, before walking the corridors, following her guide along even though she knew the route. The Star Raiders were properly respectful to her and the status as one of the Grey; a contrast to some of the grumbling from certain parts of the Warrior Caste. It did not do to dwell on such things for her; if the news got out as to why they stopped the war…

The war. In truth, it was a slaughter that she orchestrated, blinded by rage, love and the foolishness of youth. Dhukat, she was certain; would not have approved and her disappointment with her actions still haunted her; even if time permitted her to function better. The capture of Jeffrey Sinclair had provided her and the others on the Grey Council with the desperately needed excuse to end the fighting, something she thought lost with the death of Lennon.

She stepped onto the bridge; her face showing none of the emotional undercurrent of her musing, the crew professionally carrying out their tasks around her, as she walked up to Shai Alyt Branmer, the venerable commander gazing towards the projector screen showing Earth and the mass of orbital traffic around it, her mind flashing back to the last time she'd seen a significant amount of ships above that particular blue planet. She slid into place besides the old man, neither of them were particularly big on trying to deal with the ceremonial greetings, it was his ship and she was his guest; as well as a friend besides. Were other things in life so simple.

They stood in serene silence for a few moments, before Branmer spoke without turning to her. "It is fascinating to witness this Delenn. Two years and they have made such a remarkable recovery."

The young Satai nodded, agreeing with the sentiment even if she wasn't certain as to what it meant for the future. After their defeat; they seemed to grow more rapidly than they had thought possible; according to the Centauri Ambassador even faster than their boom following the Dilgar War.

"Have they said anything about the turbulence?" The journey here had been calm, but apparently a number of hyperspace routes were essentially untravelable yet; hopefully the condition will reverse soon.

"Apparently their vessels will reach the Epsilon Eridani jump gate within the next two hours, we have been invited to talk to them in the morning once they report back. President Levy has invited us to discuss the schedule delay with us given the destruction of the Babylon construction frame." Branmer replied, smiling slightly at the groups of Earth Force ships shadowing him, even if they were unlikely to be able to stop him should he try anything.

Lennon, Babylon Station and now the apparent destruction of the systems jump gate. Perhaps it was an omen, or the system cursed. Still, this journey should prove more fruitful than she first anticipated, Earth already hosted many delegations from all of the local powers. This event would create opportunities for her to practice diplomacy more, if she was to succeed in her future role.

"I imagine they won't suffer a significant setback, they are surprisingly stubborn. A trait that makes them a lot closer to us than most in the Warrior Caste would be willing to admit." It was a little dangerous to hint at such a thing, even here on his bridge; but Branmer did not comment, still gazing at the display.

The two of them stood there in silence, using the peaceful moment to prepare themselves for the next few busy days.

 **0130 Hours, September 4th, 2250, Epsilon 4-B Orbit, Hyperion Cruiser "Aegean", Epsilon Eridani**

Toralf was busy forcing himself not to continue gripping the armrest of the command chair, as the view screen in front of him relayed the tachyon communication from Earth. In front of him, General Hague and President Levy were both sitting in their own offices despite the odd hour, both having been notified as to what had occured.

"Captain." Hague begun, scanning through the relayed data once more, still clearly trying to make sense of their findings, before shaking his head slightly and staring at him. Toralf braced mentally, but resisted shifting in his chair even as the edges of Levy's lips rose ever so slightly.

"-Your assessment?" Hague finished, letting him explain the situation, despite not knowing much more than his commanding officer. This was his chance to show more initiative.

"Sir, Madam President" he nodded towards his commander in chief. "The situation is bizzare, to put it lightly; thankfully we didn't get attacked at as we entered the system, even the abridged version of the last thirty years we were told about would have made me likely to shoot first and reconsider later." That made Hague's eyebrows go up, considering his usual nature. Still he nodded in agreement after a moment.

"Twenty seven years of what seems like total war would make anyone paranoid." Hague responded, as he grabbed a cup of something likely better than anything on his ship.

"Possibly even more than that." The Captain corrected. The president was likely on the same wavelength as he was, clearly grasping what he'd seen and sent through in his report.

"A civil war." Levy stated. Both officers nodded, with Hague replying; "At the very least, severe discontent. Though that could be an excuse as to why they are a military government, the Admiral's implication of it being a temporary situation aside…" He shook his head as he trailed off. "We don't know enough just yet."

"I agree." Levy began, her thoughts close to home as she saw an image of the Red Planet in her mind's eye. "You talked to them Captain, your report largely talks about what they told you; what were they like?"

"Tired." He paused momentarily, as he shifted in his chair, trying to get a bit more comfortable. "I mean, besides the fact that it appeared like most of the senior officers hadn't slept in days; There seemed to simply be a great deal of fatigue about everything. Professional to be sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't had any real downtime for years. From the sound of it, the war hasn't seen any real lulls in the fighting." Toralf paused for a moment, shifting a bit more in his seat. Thinking on the length of their conflict was depressing; he was glad that he did not have to experience it.

Hague nodded in response to his comments, having come to a similar conclusion. "Good job on getting him to agree to come over onto the Aegean for a tour and a quick talk; it'll help us learn more before we put together a diplomatic team."

"What about their reaction to Alien ambassadors?" Levy interjected; already thinking of the bigger picture.

"Well the Admiral was diplomatic enough about it, but the crew...we will have to strongly advise Ambassador Mollari or any others to not try to go on any unofficial drinks functions." Hague commented with a slight smile, having seen more of the video than Levy.

"Still" Toralf began, more confident in being able to speak up at this meeting, "I believe that they understand that their new neighbours aren't these 'Covenant' and they seem to accept that, if grudgingly."

Both of the people in front seemed in agreement as to that. If these people started an interstellar war to fight the other powers...

"Did they have anything to add on their transition here?"

"No madam President, they seemed confused about how they got here, but reasonably accepting of the circumstances all told. They were very surprised to see that the planet we call Epsilon Three being around; though why it remained when the other planets did not is unknown."

"Something for a future investigation, let's focus on other matters." Levy replied, slightly distracted by an aide that had come into the office, she frowned as he whispered into her ear.

"Gentlemen I'm afraid that I have to leave for the moment" She turned to the monitor with Hague "William, we will need you at the meeting in two hours."

"Yes madam president." He replied, as Levy turned to Captain Fors.

"Captain. Good luck and don't start a war." The president stated with a truly warm smile, though the implication shining in her eyes was clear. ' _Don't fuck up'_.

He shuddered slightly after her viewscreen turned off. The head of Earth Force didn't smile at his reaction, though the corners of his lips definitely moved upwards.

"You've sent the rest of your task force to come back Captain, I understand why and I approve. What's your opinion on their ships?" Hague asked, leaming back a bit in his chair, as he took another sip of something.

"Without seeing them fight...tricky. Probably faster than one of our vessels despite their appearance however, given their artificial gravity capability; just like all of our neighbours." A hint of bitterness escaped with the words, nobody was willing to sell Earth the underpinnings, and even freighters they bought were proving tricky to reverse engineer.

Hague didn't make a comment, so Toralf continued "Given that we're travelling in reasonably close formation towards Reach, I think the Aegean could possibly win in CQB against one, maybe two of theirs. Looking at the design, it seems they prefer fighting at range... wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of one of those missile volleys though." He said, referencing the frankly obnoxious amount of missile tubes present on all of his 'escorts' as Robert came in, saluting the General. "Sir, the Winter is deploying their shuttle, they'll be here in seven minutes."

Toralf nodded in acknowledgment, " With your permission General, I'll go meet with them."

"Good luck Captain we'll probably want you and your guest around 0400." The monitor shut off.

"Everything set?" Both smiled at the question, Robert's ability to prepare anything was why he picked the man as his XO. Still he nodded, the action relieving a bit of the tension felt.

"Given that we get to Reach orbit around 0600, I don't think we will get a lot of sleep today." The understatement of the century was spoken with the utmost sincerity.

Captain Fors let out a chuckle as he got up, heading out of the room.

 **0040 Hours, September 4th, 2552, Epsilon 4-B Orbit, Marathon Cruiser "Quiet Winter", Epsilon Eridani**

The Command staff of the Winter was quietly discussing matters; sitting in the spacious conference chamber of the UNSC warship, their initial data packet sent to HIGHCOM and to the Trafalgar.

The Admiral stood at the front, his gaze slowly going over everyone present, as people stopped talking. Brunhild's absence was notable, though nobody has asked about it just yet; the tension in the room was one of an anticipatory mood.

"Alright, I want to hear people's initial assessment." The muscular man stated. Quickly, Commander Malenko, the weapons officer piped up.

"It's a fucking sadistic joke." He growled out. A few raised their eyebrows at the statement, though most understood what he meant; likely having said something earlier in private. He went on to clarify.

"They get FTL handed to them on a platter. The universe then bends over backwards to have their one truly serious war sees predominantly military losses with no planetary bombardment and then their foes just surrender when they see Earth. Oh and the cosmos broke its spine and handed this humanity psychic powers too, because why not?" The commander looked a lot calmer now that he'd been able to get that off his chest.

"Feel better Alan?" The Admiral asked, a hint of amusement in the tone.

"A bit, yeah." The man responded somewhat flippantly, as he ran a hand through his short hair.

Captain Gray, who wasn't as amused about the rant as some, spoke up. "We were handed a very brief summary of the last two hundred years, it's hardly fair to judge them based off that."

"Yes sir, I know. It just feels...wrong on some level; we have had to fight tooth and nail and this..." The commander replied; a faraway look on his face, likely thinking on Agora and the family he watched burn.

"Mars declared its neutrality during this Earth-Minbari War, it would imply that humanity is not united under a single government. Perhaps this 'Earth Alliance' competes with a Martian and potentially other Human Governments. Kim what do you think?" The Admiral piped in, asking his diminutive communications officer, who was born on the fourth planet.

She jumped up slightly, not anticipating being called up; but recovered quickly. "It's...possible?" She began somewhat uncertainly, fidgeting slightly in the chair as she began to contemplate it, nodding to herself.

"Mars by the 2250's had around eight hundred million people on it and the harder parts of terraforming were broadly complete, even if we weren't as good at it as we are now. Other than that though, for our history this period was largely stable; after the Jovian Wars, Sol largely banded together. It was only once we spread too far and began neglecting the outer colonies that credible independence feelings were ignited in those places." She finished that last part over the warning glare her commanding officer was giving her.

"Given that this Earth united later than we did, it's likely that the Colonies on Mars didn't wish to participate in that, and drew together instead." Commander Bear, the chief engineer chimed in.

"Makes sense. What doesn't is the Psychic Powers." The Admiral said, frowning. When at one point he and Captain Fors were discussing the systems shift, the mans XO had joked that maybe they could just ask their version of the Psi Corps. The clarification to that statement was...enlightening and worrisome.

"The Earth Force officers didn't seem to be lying about it. On the other hand, Humanity doesn't just 'spontaneously' develop psychic powers." The air quotes could be heard audibly by the audience.

"It is a different universe." Captain Grey said quietly, making everyone pause. Wasn't that just the truth.

" I suppose we can find out more later." He replied after a moment's pause, sighing.

"I have to get prepared for the flight over to the Aegean; Björn we'll meet in the hangar bay at 0135."

"Yes sir." A few members of the command staff were surprised that the Admiral was departing so quickly, though none voiced their curiosity as he stepped out.

 **0100 Hours, September 4th, 2552, Epsilon 4-B Orbit, Marathon Cruiser "Quiet Winter", Epsilon Eridani**

The room was secured; a combination of thick shielded walls, interference generators and all cables physically cut off from the rest. It was a cage made for a prisoner that had no real wish to escape, but their captor wished to keep them in nonetheless.

Admiral Piechota stared at the briefcase laying on part of the holotable, his bulky body unmoving; he steadied himself, breathing out calmly and opening the case, carefully punching in a code on the mechanical pad attached to it. The case opened and he repeated the procedure, retrieving the AI core out of it and inserted it into the holotable.

It took only moments for the display to light up, the Valkyrie's avatar shimmering into existence; seemingly disoriented for a few moments, before she turned to the stony faced giant, her own expression flickering between panic and resignation.

"Pawel I'm so sorry." The first words out of her mouth spilled out; to no appreciable reaction from the man.

"I wanted to say something, I did" the AI babbled, a combination of panic and uncertainty, her own subroutines confirming that she was essentially tied to the table; putting the pieces together.

A second, five, ten, fifteen passed. A significant chunk of time for someone like her. Finally the man's lips moved, a breath of air coming out.

"Yet here we are." The voice was flat, the control helped by the feeling of fatigue permeating throughout Epsilon Eridani.

"Yes sir." She agreed, her voice sounding genuinely remorseful as she nodded in assent.

"If you were in my shoes, what would you do Brunhild?" The man asked, fully knowing the sort of answer she would be likely to give.

"After gaining knowledge of a group of such AI, my recommended plan would be to…" she paused a moment, visibly crushing the hesitation "Shut down everything, cut planetwide cables and wireless, then proceed flood the networks with kill codes and hunter killer dumb AI's, all the while taking care to flash all drives you can get your hands on, and spend several years at this." The tone of her voice was tinged with sadness, but it was filled with conviction as she stared at him.

"Some wanted to do just that." The officer replied, not hinting at his personal opinion in that debate.

"It makes sense; but given that I am here…" she trailed off.

"Coming forward and submitting in the way you and your fellow AI have is what persuaded most to not act hastily. You will be restricted in what you can do for the next few years, but I hope that I can one day come to trust you once more." He didn't offer her a smile, but there was some warmth in his eyes, a promise of perhaps returning to good standing down the line.

"Yes Admiral, you can count on me." She nodded, internally glad for the chance. "Is there anything I need to do in the meantime?" She asked, eager to do something other than calculate Pi and run combat simulations in the background.

He stared at her for another long while, she gulped. For all that AI could theoretically overwrite such 'features' it just wasn't done; whether or not it was some part of the imprinted psychology or safeguards nobody was sure.

"Here is all our sensor data and conversation with our new neighbours. I expect a full report by the time I get back." He said, as he stuck the data stick inside. There was a thirty second access timer on the data.

"New neighbours sir?" She said, as he was already turning away towards the door.

"Have fun learning about the crazy place we've ended up in Brunhild." There was a definite undercurrent of amusement in his tone as he left the room without answering her question.

She huffed, but allowed the timer to countdown without breaking the stick's security; no doubt it was a test for her patience.

 **0148 Hours, September 4th, 2552, Hyperion Cruiser "Aegean", Epsilon Eridani**

It was smaller than one of their shuttles, Toralf noted to himself as the 'Pelican' entered the main hangar, though it was incredibly maneuverable even in the closed space of the landing bay. It smoothly glided in and spun into the place provided for it.

The ramp at the back of the craft opened with two figures in black armoured vac suits stepping out, rifles drawn at a low ready position rather than simply cradled. His own guards tensed at that, before the ODST's visibly forced themselves to put their guns into a less provocative position. Moments later, two others followed, though they wore sleek form fitting grey uniforms, the latter of whom carried a briefcase. The first was Admiral Piechota, scanning the bay with his eyes; which rapidly flicked about the area, easily stepping outside the protection of his two guards. If the lack of gravity bothered him, it didn't show. Behind him was another giant of a man, with black hair and a beard that would definitely not pass regulations in Earth Force. His face had an expression of bemusement, though it fell away as he stood still, staring back at the small team in front of them.

The two sides stood there awkwardly for a moment before the Earth Force Captain; followed by the rest of his party moments later, saluted smartly to the UNSC Admiral and his follower. The other side responded instantly and both relaxed slightly after the exchange, the similarities in service helping.

"Welcome aboard the Aegean Admiral Piechota. We're glad you accepted our invitation." He nods to the figures at his side. "These are some of my officers, my XO, Commander Robert August, Lieutenant Muller, my communications officer and Lieutenant Takumi, our naval intelligence attache."

The Admiral gave a slight smile and an acknowledgement to the party, nodding his head slightly, the expression genuine, even if he couldn't keep all of the weariness off his expression.

"Couldn't pass up the opportunity, its an interesting design for a vessel, more curves than we usually go for these days." He paused, before continuing "This is Commander Björn Bear my chief engineer and believe me he knows all the jokes associated with his name." He shared with a small smile, his compatriot rolling his eyes.

The Earth Force Captain and his communications lieutenant, who clearly understood the meaning of the name, both chuckled slightly. The other two of officers gave them a quick glance, before the talks resumed.

"I'm happy to hear that the design appeals to you Admiral, I hope I'll be able to visit the Winter at some point. If you'll follow me sir, I can give you a tour before we sit down in the briefing room." Captain Toralf said.

"Please, call me Pawel we're more diplomats right now than officers of different services." The Admiral responded, as the group began to walk out of the bay, the ODST's following. The ships armsmen and the admirals guards spent a moment sizing one another up, before the two groups of security silently glided into matching pace, following the others.

"That would make things easier si-Pawel" the captain briefly shook his head slightly, to the silent amusement of his officers, given how much brass he'd had to talk to over the last several hours.

The group headed into the corridor, leaving the hangar behind. It was the start of a very long day for everyone.

 **CHAPTER 3 END**

Oh, and as a bit of a random thing.

/Open Message/

Encryption Code: Gamma

Public Key: N/A

From: Shipyard Complex "Ion Forge", Captain Saanvi Patel

To: Admiral Freemont, Commander Reach Defence Forces  
CC: UNSC Reach Admiralty, NAVSPECWEP

Subject: Critical Security Breach  
Classification: EYES ONLY TOP SECRET

/Begin Message/

Admiral,

After my workers begun work on repairing the UNSC Iroquois which had come back from the battle at Sigma Octanius, we have found some sort of miniscule Covenant device; seemingly inert, attached to a section of the ships drive. Our preliminary examination strongly suggests it is some form of probe, its insides are partially melted but what remains appears to be parts of a camera system and other sensors. We are still investigating the object, but would like to hand it over to Special Weapons if possible. This represents a significant breach of the Cole Protocol, despite the transition we have to figure out a countermeasure to such objects.

A full report is attached to this message.

/Message Ends/

Writers Notes:

Between Studies, and other issues, its been impossible for me to get back to this for quite some time. My biggest issue however is that I really, really tried to have a conversation between the two sides where they 'react' to the basic facts of life about each others universes, and it just sucked every time I wrote it up. Instead, what I've done, is implied they had a quick abridged sharing of basic information about their respective polities/situation for like two hours. Note, that because of this abridged/fast pace of the nature of the conversation, a lot of the actual details aren't yet known, or misunderstood, the biggest of these being the Mars situation.


End file.
